Rome. Republic. Come.

April 26, 1849: The Eternal City faces French troops and chooses to resist.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, Italy was not yet a unified country. The revolutions of 1848 took different forms across the peninsula, and most were eventually suppressed.

A small museum on the Janiculum Hill, at Largo di Porta San Pancrazio, is dedicated to the short-lived Roman Republic of 1849. It stands on the site of some of the main clashes between republican forces and the French troops sent to restore Pope Pius IX to temporal power.

Among the objects preserved here is a proclamation by the three triumvirs of the Republic, announcing their decision to resist to the end.

ROMANS

The Assembly has decreed that the Republic shall be saved, and that force shall be met with force.

Thanks be to GOD, who inspired the Decree. The honor of Rome is safe. History will not be able to say that we were cowards.

We shall resist, because independence cannot be lost, even for a single day, by a people without self-destruction — because we have sworn a hundred times to defend it against every internal and external offense — because liberty is a gift from GOD which we cannot relinquish in the slightest without committing a crime — because we wish to save ourselves from anarchy and from civil war, which any compromise with a fallen power would inevitably bring upon our country — because our resistance will prove to France our right and the unanimity of our resolve — because we hold in our keeping the honor of Italy — because we are in Rome, the City of great memories and great hopes.

Citizens, your Triumvirs count on your energy; calm and composed energy, as befits the strong; steady energy, as befits those who uphold a just cause. Let us show, with trust in our leaders and by maintaining internal order in every respect, that we are worthy of overcoming the dangers that threaten us; and we shall overcome them.

LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!

Given at the Residence of the Triumvirate, the 26th of April, 1849.

THE TRIUMVIRS

CARLO ARMELLINI
AURELIO SAFFI
GIUSEPPE MAZZINI

They were under no illusions.

Lacking support from the major European powers, the young Republic could rely mainly on the commitment of volunteers who had come from across Italy and from abroad, often poorly equipped and with limited military experience.

One of the triumvirs, Giuseppe Mazzini, had already faced several failures, yet he remained committed. He had returned from exile after receiving a brief message from a young Genoese, Goffredo Mameli: “Rome Republic Come”

Giuseppe Garibaldi, a professional revolutionary deeply committed to the cause of Italian unity, also came to defend the Republic.

The defense lasted only a few months, and many young volunteers were killed in the fighting.

Among them was Goffredo Mameli himself, aged 21, the author of those three words that had brought Mazzini back. He also wrote the words of what is now the Italian national anthem.

Little more than a decade later, the unification of Italy finally became a reality.

Ironically, it took place with the support of French troops.